Police suspect gangrape victim is hiding facts

The 19-year-old domestic help, who was allegedly drugged and gangraped by three men in a car, recorded her statement on Friday.

Doctors at Safdarjung Hospital, where she was undergoing treatment, declared her fit on Friday and discharged her. The woman was allegedly found in a semi-nude condition and heavily drugged on a pavement near Nanakpura gurdwara in south Delhi's Moti Bagh on Thursday morning.

She claimed that three men offered her a lift at Chirag Dilli and raped her after drugging her. A magistrate, doctors, victim's relatives and members of an NGO were present when she recorded her statement.

She told the police that she had hired an auto-rickshaw from Defence Colony to reach her brother's house at Chirag Dilli.

"She had previously claimed that she was near Shiv Mandir in Chirag Dilli when a Maruti Omni Van stopped near her and the driver asked her the direction to Outer Ring Road. But when we took her to Chirag Dilli, she could not locate that spot. She did identify the spot near Nanakpura gurdwara where she was found sitting on the pavement. The woman also could not locate the isolated field where she was dumped by the accused," a senior police officer said.

Even as the police registered a case of poisoning and gang-rape despite the fact that victim's medical examination did not indicate any sign of sexual assault, investigators believe she was hiding some facts and suspect that she knew at least one accused, if not all.

"The victim has not said anything about the purpose of visiting her brother's house so late in the night. While her brother has not surfaced yet, her husband told us that he had no idea where his wife was throughout the night. He told us that they were staying separately because of a fight," the officer added.

The police have questioned some taxi drivers and Maruti Van drivers from Chirag Dilli and other neighbouring areas. Their phone call records and location on Wednesday night were also being examined.